By James Loewenstein, The Daily Review, Towanda, Pa.
Aug. 6–TOWANDA — U.S. Rep. Chris Carney was in Bradford County on Tuesday, where he presented a $738,000 check to help bring municipal water service to Wysox Township, and met with officials at Memorial Hospital, where he was thanked for his role in expanding Medicare coverage in the area of cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation.
Memorial Hospital
Carney had helped pass recent legislation that expands Medicare coverage in the area of cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, officials at Memorial Hospital said.
Without the legislation in place, Medicare might or might not cover such rehabilitation, depending on which area of the country the patient lived in, said Lynn Dibble, vice-president for patient services at the hospital.
The passage of the legislation assures that Medicare will cover the rehabilitation, no matter which area of the country the patient lives in, she said.
Unless Medicare pays for the rehabilitation, many people cannot afford to pay for it on their own and some will forgo the rehab, said Dibble and Linda Berry, the hospital’s vice president for human resources.
Cardiac rehabilitation gives people who have had heart attacks or open heart surgery the confidence to resume physical activity, Dibble said.
The expansion of the Medicare coverage goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2010, Dibble said.
Currently at Memorial Hospital, Medicare pays for most cardiac rehabilitation services, and does not pay for some pulmonary rehabilitation, Dibble said. When the legislation goes into effect, all of those rehabilitation services will be covered by Medicare, she said.
Municipal water
The $738,000 grant, which is from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will be used to help pay to bring municipal water from Towanda Borough to Wysox Township.
The Wysox Municipal Authority is planning to purchase bulk water from the Towanda Municipal Authority for its planned $7.1 million water system in Wysox Township.
The bulk water would be piped from Towanda Borough to Wysox Township, either by laying a pipe underneath the Susquehanna River, or attaching it to the Veterans Memorial Bridge, said Bob Williams, chairman of the Wysox Municipal Authority.
James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1632; or e-mail: [email protected]
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